Michael McGivney, priest (1852–1890)

Biography

American priest, Michael McGivney founded the Knights of Columbus to sustain the faith of the laity and protect families who were left helpless. The eldest son of Irish immigrants, he experienced the poverty and insecurity of workers up close. Ordained in 1877, he was a close parish priest, attentive to young people, prisoners and those who suffered discrimination. In 1882 he gathered a group of lay people to create a fraternal association that offered financial help to widows and orphans and Catholic training to its members. He died at the age of thirty-eight, exhausted by his pastoral service.